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Yet the series' bulging length and rhapsodic tone become wearying, even for a diehard fan. (It's difficult to imagine a nonfan sitting through anything close to the program's full 18 hours.) Baseball is rich in drama, irresistible as nostalgia and, yes, an instructive window into our national psychology. But it is, after all, a game. The lofty rhetoric of The Civil War seemed perfectly suited to the epic subject; in Baseball everything from Carl Hubbell's screwball to Mickey Mantle's bad knees is given the same sense of moment. Hard-hitting Mel Ott, we're told in portentous tones, was "so feared at the plate that he was once intentionally walked with the bases loaded." Negro League star "Cool Papa" Bell was "so fast he once scored from first on a sacrifice bunt." Chicago Cubs great Ernie Banks was "so fond of playing that he liked to say, 'Let's play two."' It may be a game of finesse, but Baseball swings for the fences on every pitch.